The Trials and Tribulations of an RV "Celebrity" ;)

:) Yes Sir!

We stepped out yesterday morning for a walk up through the empty Plomosa Road area for to make a look see.

There were only a pair of rigs above us; one off about a 1/4 mile and a second that much further... As is our habit we skirted off a ways from 'em both, not wanting to intrude on their privacy or create some sort of an altercation 'tween any possible dogs...

So... we wandered up a mile or so to the end of the area scouting out possible camps for if we ever pull in and find "Our" spot already taken.

Well, the second rig was a small pull with a BIG ol' black dog layin' outside. Looked like a small bear layin' there.

We made a wide circle around it! ;) Then... as we turned back a while later and moved a lil' wider yet, a gal took up that dog and started anglin' out to meet us... Uh Oh... we'd neglected to grab leashes... so we took hold of collars.

As she got closer she called out he was friendly... Well... HER pup ain't the problem! :) Ol' Buck and Lily is who we were concerned 'bout. They have the habit of chargin' up and announcing their presence in a manner many folks misunderstand as aggression, when in fact they're just being noisy.

But, as is also their usual... Buck and Lily were soon running and playing with Cisco... who Judy opined was likely lonesome for some Canine frolics.

Cisco stacks up likely 1 and then half again of either Buck or Lily. he's a big boy! She got him at about six months old after some sorry, two legged, useless eater had abandoned the guy at the dump! Here he is four years later and I'm tellin' you, he's a Fine lookin' animal. For a gal travlin' alone? I'd strongly suggest you not come 'round her rig cookin' up any foul intentions. That calm lookin' 70 pound fur ball, I submit, will become a gawd awful, fur lined chain saw chewin' up a  day in YOUR life! ;)

You can clearly see the Aussie in his eyes, coloring, personality and they way he moves.

... and THIS is where the light came on... She, Judy, says; "I saw you walk by and thought, that dog (Lily) looks familiar. So, I got out my binoculars and studied your rig... Oh! I Know them! I read his blog!" :)

We stood around for most of an hour gabbin' and laughin' while the dogs ran around chasin' each other as only an Aussie can.

Yep... Third winter we've come by Plomosa road... Third winter I've been "recognized" by my rig/dog/motorcycle...

Geeze I can't walk through Walmart without a throng of groupies! Ha Ha Ha!!! Nah... it's pretty fun really. Generally speakin', folks in the past that were watchin' out for my arrival didn't have Good Intentions! ;)

What it all comes down to it; This Grumpy Old Motorcycle straddlin' Buster has to clean up his act, mind his manners... and be on his best behavior all the dang time... cuz he never knows when somebody is gonna be a watchin' or listenin'...

You folks just can't have No Idea what a tall order such a task like that is!

Geeze... guess I'm gonna have to start shavin' every day too!

Genuine Self Aggrandizing Boondocking Celebrity :)
Brian

This Life of RV Boondocking Freedom Remains a Shining Joy.

Part of this post is simply RVing tips and part of it is something else all together. I just can't put the right name to that something else.

How do you spell Good Fortune? and does everyone recognize how genuinely double rectified fortunate I am?

We thought... I thought... that I had a bent rim, at least one bad and likely to have to be replaced axle and very possibly two. Very possible a repair bill in excess of a couple of Grand. Not to mention that the tires were getting ugly from the axle situation.

Considering the age of our rig along with the miles we've drug it, not to mention the sorts of "Roads"... or what passed for roads, a lot of those miles got made on, my cynical nature just automatically had me seeing another steep mountain to climb over.

Well, the bent rim turned out to be that the Tire was so badly damaged internally that it wobbled and heaved just like a bent rim would do. Not a thing wrong with the rim at all! and then, to top it off, Discount Tire there in Glendale, Arizona...  made a 100% road hazard warranty on that tire! ... I'd completely forgot that I'd bought the road hazard deal... So I bought a second to replace the BADLY over aged spare... uh... 12 years IS a badly over aged Spare tire! Ain't it? :)

The spare was the Original spare from when the trailer was built! Never touched the ground! :) When I changed to all load range D's I just kept it as the spare and never thought much about it any more.

So... Tuesday night we pulled over and parked in the Parking lot of SpecTrac in Gilbert Arizona. Kind of a noisy night... but we had to be up at 5:30, 'cause those boys start working at 6:30... only... they got there at 6 in the a.m. !!! :)

We handed over the rig for their technician and went down the street and had a great Breakfast at the Black Bear Diner while we waited with another couple that were getting a brand spankin' New Humongous Diesel Pusher's suspension repaired! Brand new and it was delivered with the suspension jacked up... and the DEALER sent it here to SpecTrac to be fixed!

After breakfast we took a run over to Bass Pro to kill some more time and drool in the Papa's Toy box store! ;)

Well... by Noon they were done fixing on ours! A two axle trailer axle alignment and the tired old Jayco Eagle wasn't sitting cowhocked and bowlegged any more. Both axles had been knocked out of alignment, but the temper of the tubes was fine and they pulled 'em back into good alignment. Nothing else could be seen to be hurt so we got out of there for 'bout half what I'd been thinking the minimum would be! HooYa!

Except that they said the remaining tires were all bad/separating and should be replaced. I knew they were scrubbed, but the separating was new... But again... there was Another Discount Tire Store just down the road there in Mesa.

Only one of the remaining three (two on the ground and a spare) was a Discount Tire. It hadn't been road hazard damaged... so I was hoping that maybe they'd pro rate it. Their guy at the second shop... 100% warrantied THAT tire as well! Without me saying anything except; "I'll appreciate whatever you can do for me."

Needless to say I bought another "second" tire for the other replacement. Bottom line, I got a 4 for 2 tire deal in the past two days! Suh-Wheet!

But Wait! it gets better! As I walked out to the rig with the receipt it hit me, today's tire deal was exactly the same as Yesterday's... but it was $29 bucks cheaper! So I turned back inside to make sure that we hadn't forgot the road hazard on the new tires or something...

Ha Ha! Those tires went on SALE... TODAY!

But wait! it STILL gets better. All the old tires were load range D's... all the new tires are load range E's! Not only a heavier weight rating... but the old tires inflated to 65 pounds, these new ones get 80, so the harder tires should roll a little easier, suckin' up less diesel... and running cooler... they did seem to handle better than the old ones on our run out to Quartzsite through the afternoon.

BUT WAIT! It gets Better yet! :)  Uh Huh... we got back into more of the Land I need.

 
We pulled into our favorite spot along Plomosa Road in Quartzsite minutes before sunset. The desert is quiet and empty.  The silence is like laying down on the bank and drinking from a high mountain stream on a hot day. A rig a 1/4 mile to the east and another as far off to the west. The desert is quiet like a sweet blanket on my soul!

After all the commotion and turmoil of the past week... the serenity of this desert is a welcome respite.

Not a spectacular sunset this evening... but how could a fella ask for that too! Not spectacular ... but... combined with the sweet scent of Freedom in the spirit expanding space a man can savor on the desert... it had a smile creasing my face.

Freaking Awesome.

I believe this is likely the third winter I've made a version of this photograph. Something about that mountain, sitting off there maybe thirty miles away across the desert... it just quiets the noise in my head.

*A soft sunset in a favored Arizona Desert RV camp*

The axles are good to go. Four spanking new HD tires... A pair of Companies, Discount Tire and Spectrac did an awesome job of Customer service and competent work... If you need tires... I STRONGLY recommend Discount Tire. They have ALWAYS taken care of me... all over the country. Which is nice. Doesn't matter where you are... they take care of you, no matter where the tires were bought. Well, as long as you bought 'em from them! ;)

If you have RV axle/suspension "Issues" and are anywhere within range of SpecTrac in Gilbert, Arizona... They are THE people to take your rig to for repair. As far as I'm concerned, they did me a superb job!
... and... there just aren't very many shops where you can even get what they do done at all!

and now... Oh Lordy... another sweet Far Country camp.

Boondocking the Good Life doesn't begin to describe the life I'm living...

*Beauty is the same for any man, rich or poor*

But Wait! The day just wouldn't Stop being better!

*The rich man is the one who can see the beauty all around him*

Howiet said it in his comment yesterday and it bears repeating... often to yourself; "But then it seems like the Boss always makes sure the needs are met even if the wants aren't"

Maybe I'm not achieving all my "wants" but... my needs are met so Fine... maybe much of those pitiful wants aren't so important!

and then... and THEN... and THEN! a very special lady... She knows who she is :) sent us an offer of help Tuesday night that, like I told her, humbled me to tears. That we have earned such friendship, that a person would feel moved to make such an offer, is the greatest treasure we can possess.

We've run into difficulties and a few hard knocks along this road. Sometimes I let my frustrations pile up too high... But it might could just be that was all needed to make the contrast so bright and clear... to show just how glorious this life is... and how blessed we are with the friendships that makes each day Shining Times.

I've not got all I want... I damn sure Have what I need
Brian

RV'n Deja Vu All Over Again

The trials and tribulations of a dinero challenged drifter pushing road worn equipment down the trail. Or in the eloquent and simple words of a great American Philosopher; "Aw KRAP!"

A couple hours or so after I made yesterday's post we hauled out of PIR and pulled into Costco, just up the road a short ways to stock up a few supplies for the desert...

Now, I've known we had one axle with a failing alignment. We've been rolling easy workin' to squeeze all the good out of what was left. The tires were wearing odd... but not alarmingly fast, so I was hopin' we had some time to juggle things around and work it all out.

The idea was to fudge a bit and try to squeak by... and maybe get a few other "things" working that would make it a non issue. Long time readers kind of know where this is goin' already don't you? ;)

Yup... whenever the Puss gut Ol' cowboy has a plan... DUCK! It's a sure and certain fact that SOMETHING is gonna get flung his way and ya'll don' wanna git 'tween him and what's aimed at him!

Well... just a couple of days before pulling into PIR for our race week I got into a last second situation with one of those parking lot Parnellis and kissed a curb. Most times, that'd not be an issue...

But... it is ME we're palaverin' 'bout here, so ya already know it WAS an issue... right? ;)

OK, if you climb the curb easy and straight on, generally it's no big deal, 'bout like kissin' your aunt. Not a pleasant thing but it's quick and you run off with little damage just tryin' to wipe that gawd awful smell of her lipstick off your face.

How-some-ever, this was more like that lonely old matron done grabbed you with both hands and smeared that lipstick all over your lips! Yup... a Big, Wet, Aunt Bessie Smack! Blehhhh Yuck!

I got cornered into a deal where I had to unexpectedly cut sharper, and for a second or two my focus was on the other driver... that distraction proved juuuust long enough to NOT catch that the driver side wheels of the 5er were gonna clip the island curbing rather than missing it with my oh-riginal trajectory.

Ten or twelve thousand pounds don't have to be moving very fast when they run into parts that aren't supposed to be run in to... to do some damage. The wheels hit at such a shallow angle, it was the sidewall and now it's quite obvious, the wheel itself that took the hit rather than the tread. (I'm hoping just the wheel and no spindle/axle damage)

Somehow I didn't notice how severe the damage was for a few hundred miles. :( It wasn't till we were leaving PIR that I finally spotted that tire wobblin' back there. I'm guessin' at every stop  for those last few hundred miles it must have been parked ON the bad part of the tire so it wasn't visible; 'cause when it's up on top it jumps out at you like a pavement princess working the parking lot at a Baptist convention!

Contrary to my usual routine of checkin' tires/wheels whenever I make a turn to that side and they're visible... advancing old timers syndrome apparently had me miss the wobblin' for a couple of runs. I wonder where the hell I was lookin'?!! I sure don't remember any Bikinis!

The left rear now has a bad tread separation deforming the tire and the wheel itself is dancin' like a hoola girl... arrrrrgggghhhhh. I can only attribute it to that lil' dido in the parking lot... clear back in Utah! 

End result is; with rapidly growing "issues" with both axles, rather than turning west for Quartzsite we cut back NE for Glendale and my sisters place.

The plan is to get on the horn today to a place I know of in Gilbert, Arizona. It's an RV Suspension alignment/repair shop that has a pretty good rep for quality work. I already talked to 'em yesterday afternoon. I needed to sit easy for a bit and weigh all the possible options. Doing that made it rapidly become crystal clear, so even a stubborn Ol' buster like me could see; there's really only one option... Patch up the old rig one more time.

Yup. Started with Three options; Expensive. Real expensive and Oh - My - God - How Much?

Considering that as always... Expensive is gonna be a test of the ee-lass-tissity of a dollar, them other two are clear out of the game.

Today  I'll lock down an appointment and try for a  realignment of both axles and at this point, possibly wheel bearings.

My hope is the axles are just Knocked out and not Fatigued. If that's true we can escape for several hundred dollars of repairs... pretty much, once again... what we just made working the NASCAR race. If they are fatigued that means replacement...and we're talking... standing on the corner with a pathetic message scrawled on a piece of Cardboard and a forlorn and despondent look on a three day bearded face! ;)

If we can luck out and have an axle alignment, and replacing one bent rim fix the issues, we should still have enough of our NASCAR labor and tax return left to replace our aging house batteries that we've somehow managed to stroke another whole year out of! We'd intended to replace them Last winter down here... but had to make the decision to pay the Vet for Lily's cancer surgery.

Sometimes I think I should have gone into juggling rather than chasin' cows and sellin' hardware. But you know what? The world just keeps on turning... no matter what predicaments I get myself into. It's all just Life in the West, and at least I've got a rig to repair.

Not what I planned to do... but, one more time, what I can do.

You Can't Do Anything But Laugh At It All.
Brian